Age of church

This is uncertain, but there are various suggestive pointers.
1) Some features of the ‘wattle and daub' construction within the nave walls examined during the 1965 restoration suggest that it dates from the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154). This is probably why our noticeboard confidently gives a date of 1135. A small portion has been left exposed on the outside wall of the northeast corner of the nave, as shown below.

2) Some architectural features also suggest a 12th or 13th century date, notable the ‘Early English' features of the Vestry doorway, with its ‘dripstone' moulding, the ‘stoup' for holy water by the vestry door (presumably damaged in the Reformation), and the ‘leper window' in the chancel.

3) There are several early documentary sources. The earliest reference is to ‘a church by the Brent in East Greenford', from 1203. The Lords of the Manor of Perivale (or little Greenford) possessed the ‘advowson', or right to appoint the Rector, and the earliest reference to the advowson is from Edward II to Walter de Langton, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, in 1312. In 1302 the Rector of Perivale was excommunicated for non-payment of papal dues. A Rector named Ives was recorded as being drowned in the Brent prior to 1339, and the list of subsequent named vicars commences in 1337. In addition, a silver penny from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) was found by the church in the 19th century.

So the accumulated evidence suggests that the church certainly dates back to the 13th century and probably the 12th century, although it is impossible to give a more precise date. The chancel is built at a slight angle to the nave – the so-called ‘Weeping Chancel' - and thus was probably built after the nave. Despite these early dates, all the visible features are more recent. The roof, the west door, the gallery woodwork and the two easterly windows on the north side probably from 1450-1490. The Myllet brass is dated February 1500 and the earliest wall monument dates from 1623. The Chancel Arch dates from 1875, and the Chancel ceiling and Rood are from 1965, and the East window from 1966.

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